Beginning of Wisdom

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. 11 For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.


That is a fascinating promise from the word of God.   Let's break it down a little.


What is the "fear of the Lord"?  Fear of the Lord can be looked at in several respects.  One can be truly scared of Yahweh.  One can respect Jehovah.  One can honor the Lord.  All the many aspects of fearing God should lead us to one thing; obedience.  We should fear what God can do to us as sinners which should cause us to repent and change our ways to be more pleasing to Him.  We should have respect For the Lord and understand that what He says is right and just and to do what he says is the same.  We show honor to God when we are obedient to his ways.


I remember as a young lad in the 4th grade, I was on my way to school, and while on my way to school I saw a Tonka dump truck in a yard.  I decided I wanted that Tonka truck and took it.  I carried it to school and even brought it up to show the class during show and tell. during which I lied all about the truck until someone stood up in class and said, "hey, that is not your truck!  I saw you take it!"


Well, next think I knew I was being walked by the ear down to the principles office.  The principle then called my parents.  I was scared to death.  I didn't know what would happen.  Surely there would be severe punishment.  I was taken home by my mother.  I was sent to my room and had to wait for my father to get up.  It was an agonizingly long time, or so it seemed. 


Finally it came...  Dad walked into the room.  The look on his face was at least as bad or even worse than any punishment that I was going to receive.  I saw hurt on his face.  I had disappointed him, disgraced everything he had tried to teach me.  I loved my dad and wanted him to love me, and now I was not too sure he did.  I cried and cried. 


I did not get a spanking that day, if I recall.  It was explained to me why what I did was wrong, and I was forced to go make it right by bringing the truck back to where I had gotten it.  I could not just leave it there either.  I had to knock on the door, tell the people what I had done, give them the truck back, and apologize for having taken it.  It was one of the hardest things I had to do in my young life.


I loved my father.  I had honor and respect for him and wanted to do nothing more than please him.  I was afraid of what would happen if I let him down.  I thought at first I feared getting a whoopin.  That was not it though.  It was a fear of harming our relationship that I feared the most.  Because of that fear, I wanted to do what was right.


That for me was a beginning of wisdom.  When we understand who Yahweh is, and what our relationship is to Him, we should want to do what is right.  Yes there is fear of what he might do to us, but even more so we should fear what doing wrong would do to our relationship with him.  We should want to be obedient not just to avoid getting a whoopin, but because we love the Lord and desire to please Him in what we do.


That fear is the beginning of wisdom.  We will then seek to know and do His will.  As we understand our Father more and more, we will understand better who He is and why He wants us to do the things He asks of us.  Gaining knowledge of what is Holy to God and applying it to our lives gives us understanding of His principles.


When we learn and understand the ways of Jehovah, we find out that all those do's and don'ts lead us to living happier, healthier, and longer lives as a consequence.  Not only do His principles have a consequence of those, but we also please Yahweh and He blesses us with longer life as well.  It is sort of a compounding result. 


Ultimately, understanding who God is and what He expects should lead us to realize that we ourselves cannot achieve that perfection, but only strive towards it.  We recognize, through our own failures and the understanding of His word, that we need a savior.  We will learn that God so loved the world, that includes you and I, that He gave His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, so that whosoever believes of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross will not perish, but have everlasting life.  If we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts that Jesus was raised from the dead, we shall be saved.  And as saved, we will want to be obedient children and not displease our Father.


Fearing the Lord begins wisdom. Learning leads to understanding. Obedience leads to life; longevity in this life and eternally in the kingdom to come. 


Proverbs 3 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.9 Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.